Making ingots



G. E. THACKRAY.

MAKING INGOTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12; 1921.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. THACKRAY, OF WESTMQ ZT BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

MAKING INGOTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. '7, 1922.

Application filed April 12, 1921. Serial No. 460,673.

' To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. THACKRAY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the borough of Westmont, county of Cainbria, and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented-certain new and useful Improvements inMaking Ingots; and I'do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in making ingots with specialreference to producing an ingot free from fins or projections on itslower portion'in order to prevent shrinkage strains and cracks whilecooling, and While this is adapted to various forms of ingots, it isespecially useful with ingots of the type having their larger endsupward, which are thus made in order to concentrate the piping orshrinkage cavities in the upper portion within the refractory materialor lining of the sink-head top which may be used in this connection.Ingots, and particularly those of the big-end-up type, should not havefins projecting from their lower end between the stool and the ingotmold, caused by molten ingot metal penetrating the joint or crack atthis location, for the reason that on account of the taper of the moldthe ingot would be held somewhat thereby, and as it cools the fins wouldhold it and in a measure prevent its contraction when cooling, thusproducing shrinkage cracks in and extending inwardly from the surface,which makes defects in the ro'duct. If fins are thus formed it makes itdifiicult o remove the .ingot from the mold, as it has to bewithdrawnfrom the larger end, and the fin on the smaller end would prevent this.By means of my improved manner of preparing ingot molds and castingingots therein I obviate these difficulties.

Trouble has always been had due to the joint between the ingot mold andthe stool upon which it rests in order to prevent entrance therein ofmolten steel. It has been which groove may be taper or the ordinarypractice to pour slurry or clay wash formed of loam, clay, etc., of apowdered character mixed with water to form a grout of creamyconsistency into the ingot niold after it is seated on the stool withthe idea of sealing the crack or joint between the lngot mold and thestool, and the water was evaporated therefrom by the heat of the moldand stool due to previous use. This, however, leaves irregular and looselumps of refractory material in the bottom of the mold, and when steelor other metal is poured therein this refractory material may be floatedupwardly to various extents, and if retained in the ingot causes defectsdue to inclusions thereof.

Although my means of sealing bottoms of ingot molds is particularlyapplicable and useful in connection with making ingots with large endsupward, it is also applicable to the ordinary types with large endsdown, and when used under such conditions will provide an ingot with amore perfect bottom and which will consequently handle better and rollbetter without forming laps or seams and one that will enter the rollpasses more readily than an ingot having a bottom fin.

In order to practice my invention I provide a metal stool having a padprojecting upwardly from the upper surface thereof, which pad is alittle smaller than the inside of the bottom of the ingot mold andconforms to the general shape thereof, leaving a groove or space betweensaid pad and the bottom of the inside of the ingot mold. parallel or ofany other form desired.

Instead of employing the usual mud or slurry to seal the joint whichcauses inclusions in the ingot as before stated, I provide a gasketwhich may be made of one continuous form or ring and of a shape and sizeto fit into the groove aforesaid. After the mold is placed in positionon the stool, the gasket is dropped therein between the mold and the padand will fall in or adj acent to the open side of the groove. After thisis done the gasket may be tamped into the groove by a tamping tool andthe bottom of the mold is thus effectively sealed. This gasket may be ofasbestos or other similar refractory and preferably flexible orcompressible material, and in order to maintain its shape it may beprovided with a wire core on which asbestos rope or other similarrefractory material may be wound, woven, or otherwise secured. If thematerial of the gasket is sufliciently stiff and has enough strength thegasket may be used wlthout the wire core.

The refractory material which I prefer to use is. asbestos rope or otherfibrous, pliant or flexible material, which is at the same time somewhatporous and contains air cavities so that. it is easily compressible.

By compressible I mean material or materials which are capable of beingcompressed together or into a smaller space or volume, and this is trueof my gasket by reason of the character of the materials used and thevoids therein.

This is not true of the mud or slurry previously used, as thesematerials are not compressible and when put in place without pressure orwith only a slight pressure they may change their form or shape byplastic flow, but they are not compressible as above explained, as theirvolume is not decreased. Mud or slurry previously used is thereforenot-compressible in the sense of my invention, as my gasket iscompressible by reduction of its volume when-placed or after it is inthe groove, as herein described.

This gasket may be coated with graphite, talc, or other refractory andnon-adherent material, either previously mixed with water or otherliquid to a creamy consistency or otherwise applied to the gasket inorder to insure that it will strip from the ingot so that it may be usedagain.

'My gasket is not friable and will not break into pieces or producespalls or frag-.

ments as will the dried mud or slurry previously used, but in order tobe sure that no other foreign material that might cause defects in theingot is in the mold, the mold can be cleaned out by the use of an airsuction pipe which is introduced therein, which withdraws any particlesof sand, dust, dried mud, fragments of the sink head top lining or otherloose material which may have been deposited therein in any manner, sothat the interior of my mold is absolutely clean and free from anyforeign matter. that would cause inclusions or defects in the ingotmetal.

Although I have shown a gasket made of a one piece ring, or square withrounded corners, it may be composed of one or more pieces of asbestosrope or similar refractory, flexible and compressible material,overlapping or arranged in such a way as to fill the, groove, but thisis not. as convenient as the continuous shaped gasket.

I have described my invention in connection with steel ingots, but itwill be readily understood that this is applicable to ingots or otherarticles made of any metal whatsoeverl Having thus given a generaldescription of my invention, I will now, in order to make the mattermore clear, refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, which forms part ofthis specification, and in which like character refer to like parts:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation through the intermediateportion of an ingot mold, the sink head top and stool on which it rests,showing one form of apparatus used in connection with my invention.Figure 2 is a side view of one form of tamp ing bar which I may use toforce the gasket in place within the groove. Figure 3 is a cross sectionof the gaskets which are formed of asbestos or other material aspreviously described, wound, woven, or otherwise secured upon a core,which may be composed of one or more wires as illustrated, but as abovestated, I may not use wire cores if the gasket material is stiff andcoherent enough and holds together sufficiently for placing in position.Figure 4 is a vertical sectional elevation through the bottom of anotherslightly modified form of ingot mold and the stool upon which it rests.Figure 5 is a plan view of the gasket used to seal the groove in thebottom of the ingot mold illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 6 is to topplan View of one form of stool which may be used with the ingot moldillustrated in F igure 1. Figure 7 is a plan View of another form of.stool used with the ingot mold of Figure 4. Figure 8 is a plan of thegasket used with the ingot mold and stool illustrated in Figure 4:.Figure 9 is another form of tamping tool which may be used for tampingthe gasket into position at the base of the ingot mold of Figure 1.

Referring now to the characters of ref erence on the drawings: 1 is aningot mold illustrated in Figure 1; 2 are the top lifting lugs thereof,preferably made integral therewith; 3 are the bottom hold down lugs, butif this mold is used inverted they become the lifting lugs thereof; 4 isa staple projecting from the side of the mold for convenience inhandling the same; '5 is the'interiormold cavity of the ingot mold 1; 6is a stool illustrated in Fi ures 1 and6; 7 is a stool illustrated'inFigures 4 and 7; 8 is the lower portion of the ingot mold cavityillustrated in Figure 4; 9 is the pad or projection on the stool 6; 10are projections on the stool to assist in positioning the molds thereonand to insure that the groove between the ingot mold and the stool is ofsufficiently uniform size throughout in order to receive the gaskets 11and 28, which are illustrated in Figures 1, 3, 4;, 5 and 8. The casinfor the sink head top is 12, the base flan t ereof is 13, which may beprovided wii downwardly projecting lugs 14 in order to position andcenter it-on the top of the mold and this calsing is provided withlifting lugs 15 preferably made integral therewith for the purpose ofhandling with a crane chain or-otherwise, while 16'is the upper flangeof the sink head top casing, and the refractory lining of the sink headcasing is 17 A metal suction pipe 18 is provided for the purpose ofextracting or withdrawing from the mold cavity any foreign material asheretofore mentioned, and this pipe is provided with a regulating valve19 and the flexible suction hose 20,which is connected to any suitablesource of vacuum or partial vacuum provided withfan, syphon or othersuction apparatus, not shown. As illustrated in Figures 2 and 4, 21 is atamping bar which may be used for tamping the gaskets 11 and 28 in placeafter they have'been dropped into or placedgadjacent to the groovebetween the bottom of the ingot mold and the edges of the stool pad, oneend of the tamping bar 22 being curved as illustrated to correspond tothe round corners of the groove between the pad 9 and the ingot mold 1or the curved groove of the mold 24, while the other end 23 is flat andnarrow for use in the straight portions of the groove. As illustrated inFigure 4 this tamping bar is shown in dotted lines in position fortamping the gasket 28 in the groove adjacent to the bottom of the ingotmold 24. The mold of Figure 4 is 24, and this is provided with aninwardly tapering lower end of concave and convex form, the concaveportion being 25 and the convex portion 26, the idea of thisconstruction being to provide an ingot with a smaller end, which assistsin preventing fins by reason of the quick chillingof the lower portionof the ingot end due to its small mass as compared with that of theadjacent mold and stool. 27 is the pad on the stool 7, which is ofcircular form adapted to receive the gasket 28 between the edges of saidpad and the lower inner portion 26 of the ingot mold 24. As illustratedin Figure 3 the gasket 11 is provided with a single wire core 29, or itmay be provided with a plurality of wires such as 30 twisted together inthe form of a cable. As previously stated these gaskets may, however, bemade without a center or core.

Asillustrated in Figure 9, 31 is a tamping bar formed with a rectangularportion 32 with rounded corners adapted to fit within the groove in thebase of the ingot mold, so that the gasket 11 may be tamped therein bya. few movements of the tamping bar instead of working more in detail aswith the tamping bar 21.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. Apparatus for casting ingots comprising an ingotmold, a stool on which said mold is seated provided with a pad of lessersize than and extending upwardly into the mold bottom and a pliant andcompressible gasket forced between the pad and the mold bottom to sealthe same.

2. The combination of an ingot mold with a stool on which it is seatedprovided with a pad of lesser size than the mold bottom and extendingupwardly therein, thereby forming a groove between the mold bottom andthe edges of said pad and a continuous gasket formed of compressiblematerial inserted in said groove and compressed therein to seal the moldbottom.

3. The combination of an ingot mold with a stool on which it is seatedprovided with a pad of lesser size than the mold bottom and extendingupwardly therein, thereby forming a groove between the mold bottom andthe edges of said pad, and a continuous rin gasket rovided with a metalcore on whic fibres o asbestos or similar compressible refractorymaterial is mounted.

4. An ingot mold mounted on a stool provided with a pad or projectionextending upwardly for a short distance into the lower portion of theingot mold, said pad being of lesser size than the mold bottom therebyforming a groove between the mold and said pad, a ring or continuousgasket formed of fibrous or compressible refractory material providedwith a stiff metallic core whereby it retains its shape, said gasketbeing forced into said groove to seal the mold bottom.

5. An ingot mold mounted on a stool provided with a pad or projectionextending upwardly for a short distance into the lower portion of theingot mold, said pad being of lesser size than the mold bottom therebyforming a groove between the mold and said pad, a sink head top on themold, a ring or continuous gasket formed of fibrous or compressiblerefractory material provided with a stiff metallic core whereby itretains its shape, said gasket being forced into said groove to seal themold bottom.

'6. The method of making ingots consisting of mounting an ingot mold ona stool provided with a pad of size less than that of the interior ofthe mold bottom and projecting upwardly therein and forcing a gasketbetween the pad and the mold to seal the mold bottom, and then pouringmetal into said mold 7. The method of making ingots which consists inmounting an ingot mold on a stool provided with a pad of a size lessthan that of the interior of the mold bottom and projecting upwardlytherein thereby forming a groove between said pad and mold bot tom, thenclosing said groove by means of a gasket inserted in said groove to sealthe, mold bottom and then pouring metal into said mold.

8. The method ofmaking ingots consisting of mounting an ingot mold on astool the mold, then cleaning out the foreign maprovided'pvith a pad ofthe general shape of terial from the interior of said mold bysuetheinterior of the mold bottom but of less tion and then pouring the metalinto said 10 size, thereby forming an upwardly opening mold.

5 space between said pad and mold bottom, In wltness whereof I hereuntoafiix my then inserting a gasket in said groove to seal signature. themold bottom, placing a sink-head top on GEORGE E. THACKRAY.

